The present application relates to an electro-optical component holder, and in particular to a device for holding an electro-optical component, such as a photodiode, flush with the surface of a printed circuit board.
A recent push towards automation in the fiber optics industry has necessitated the reevaluation of all manufacturing processes to ensure each manual process step can be replaced by an automated one. Conventionally, photodiodes and other electro-optical components are secured to a printed circuit board using a mounting bracket, which is screwed, bolted or glued to the upper surface thereof. The conventional process is quite labor intensive and very difficult to automate. Furthermore, the conventional mounting brackets take up a great deal of space on the circuit board, where space is usually at a premium.
One solution to this problem involves the use of a xe2x80x9ckey holexe2x80x9d clamp, which is typically mounted on a planar surface by inserting a lower portion of the device through an eccentric xe2x80x9ckey-holexe2x80x9d slot extending through the planar surface, and rotating the device 90xc2x0. This type of clamp is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,131,258 issued Dec. 26, 1978 to Seiji Okuda et al; and 6,209,827 issued Apr. 3, 2001 to Tsutomu Kawai. Unfortunately, the Okuda et al device has a complicated lower locking structure, and an upper clamping structure adapted only for loosely guiding xe2x80x9clinear materialxe2x80x9d. The Kawai device is only locked in position if rotated in the proper direction. Furthermore, the Kawai device is only adapted to loosely guide wire cables therethrough. Moreover, both devices require a large base portion for stability, and neither device is capable of securely mounting a single structure flush with the surface to which it is attached. Accordingly, the conventional devices disclosed in these references do not solve the aforementioned problems.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art by providing an electro-optical component holder for securely holding an electro-optical component flush with the circuit board to which it is attached.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an easily installable electro-optical component holder that takes up very little space on the printed circuit board on which it is mounted.
Accordingly, the present invention relates to a component holder device for securing an electro-optical component substantially flush with an upper surface of a printed circuit board. The printed circuit board includes a slot for receiving the component holder. The component holder comprises:
first and second base sections, each base section having a lower surface for engaging the upper surface of the printed circuit board;
first and second resilient arms extending from the first and second base sections, respectively, for clamping the electro-optical component therebetween, the first and second resilient arms forming a cavity which extends substantially level with the lower surface of the first and second base sections, whereby the electro-optical component will be mounted substantially flush with the upper surface of the printed circuit board;
a body extending from the first and second base sections for extending through the slot;
first and second resilient feet extending outwardly from the body for engaging a lower surface of the printed circuit board after the body has been inserted through the slot and the component holder has been rotated.